you can take the girl out of the backyard...

it's an interesting contrast to go from waking up to the crow of roosters to shooting anna wintour against a white cyc in the space of 72 hours. 

i flew to nyc on sunday, greeted by a spectacular summer thunderstorm.  i haven't been here for about a year, so it's nice to get a fix.  i'm producing a psa for a fashion industry event called "fashion's night out".  the economy is effecting fashion and retail (just like every other type of business), so the fashion community is rallying to get people back into the stores. it's interesting to see a cross-section of designers, models and fashion luminaries coming together to address the economic squeeze.  kind of humanizes them, i think.  in the words of donna karan, "you're not just shopping for YOU" (sort of like rosie the riveter, but for shoppers).

when i visit this place, i realize how much my life has evolved since i had a top-floor apartment on maiden lane.  one thing that strikes me is how much simpler my life was, and how i took free time for granted - even wasted it.  it's ironic, because living in manhattan is (on the surface) a complicated venture.  but now, even though i think of my life as simple, it's filled with constant activity.  i don't spend time shopping at barney's for prada bags, having facials at mario badescu, or getting pedicures at bliss like i once did.  i don't have to invent things to do because there is always something to be done.  the challenge now is to allow some time for leisurely pursuits that don't involve wearing work gloves.

this visit to ny is allowing me to indulge some of my old past-times, like browsing through c.o. bigelow on sixth ave., pizzeria-hopping for the best slices, eating freshly-baked bagels and bread, wandering through citarella (just to marvel at all the varieties of salt) and walking endlessly for no good reason.  did i mention eating?  i was lucky enough to have a few kumamoto oysters at matsuri last night (so good, i dream about them).  i'm enjoying the thunderstorms and rain that seem destined to continue through the week.  it's such a different world here, i am trying to breath it all in and let its echo remind me of all the good things in my past.

still, i miss james, miss amy and tango snuggling against me, miss the life that is all around me at home...

 

meds and charlatans

it's gone from being an unseasonably cool to an unreasonably warm summer in the space of two weeks.  at 6pm, it's still 95 degrees.  our old house has no air conditioning, so we have fans spinning everywhere and a small free-standing a/c unit in the bedroom to make it sleepable.  the olive trees help to keep the temperature down, both inside and out.  the animals can usually be found laying under them during the heat of the afternoon (or under one of james' trucks, which usually leaves a tell-tale grease mark).  i tipped a couple of the waterers in the yard and the chickens cooled down by soaking their feet.  

ivan is in a cage inside the pen for another week.  dr. martin came on wednesday to remove his bandages.  he said that ivan's stitches are looking fairly good but his leg needs to remain uncovered for the next week - so he must be caged and kept away from dirt and bacteria.  ivan's being a good sport about it and we're trying to give him lots of treats to compensate.  based on the results of cultures, he's now on two antibiotics - ceftiofur and amoxicillin.   dr. martin called in the prescription for amoxicillin to walgreen's.  in the state of california, you can't obtain drugs for your animals without a prescription.  while this seems like a good idea in theory, it also allows overcharging for these drugs by unscrupulous vets.  dr. martin never charges more than he pays for medication because he doesn't want to discourage people from treating their animals properly.  unfortunately, i think he's the rare exception.

three years ago, after we'd had our first sheep for about 6 months, i had a horrible experience with a vet.  our black ram, scooter, was laying down alot, having difficulty breathing and seemed lethargic.  it seemed like something might be stuck in his throat and i was frantic.  since dr. martin was out of town, i called our previous vet for a recommendation of someone who could come to the house for an emergency.  most vets won't see "rumens" (animals with 2-chambered stomachs, like sheep, goats and cattle), but there are a handful of vets in l.a. who cater to "exotics" and make housecalls.  i called the recommended vet, and a receptionist answered.  she explained that the vet could come in about an hour and a half, he would charge extra to come for an emergency, and i would be charged for travel time.  at that point, i felt i had no choice since i couldn't find another vet who was available.  the vet, john, showed up with an assistant, listened to scooter's lungs, took his temperature and pronounced that he had pneumonia.  he took cultures from scooter's throat (which take 3-4 days for results) to determine the type of infection.  in the meantime, he loaded me up with about 20 pre-filled syringes of antibiotic (for which he charged $200) and told me to follow up with him the next day.  when he found out i was a producer, he  bragged about how he worked with many animal trainers in the film industry (i should have know).  i wrote him a fat check for over $600 for about 20 minutes of his time and antibiotics that cost him about $25 for the full bottle.  the next day, scooter was worse.  he couldn't stand.  i called the vet and he recommended adding another antibiotic to the course of treatment, since the cultures wouldn't be ready for another two days.  i drove down to his "office" (in an industrial park in the valley) to pick up a bottle of antibiotic - for which i was charged about $225..  this medication could be purchased online for $26.  i didn't have the time to wait because scooter was very ill, so i was charged about 9 times the retail price.  i asked the vet's receptionist how, in good conscience, could they ask clients to pay such a huge markup.  she rattled on about how they kept their meds at a constant temperature, under ideal storage conditions, and that was what it cost for them to maintain their inventory.  basically, they were ripping off people who were desperate to cure their animals in an emergency situation.  when i told her exactly that, she just looked at me like she really didn't care.  i was so angry that i wrote a letter to the veterinary board when i returned home.

the kicker is that the second antibiotic didn't work either.  at that point, dr. martin had returned and i begged him to come to the house.  he examined scooter and recommended treating him with - penicillin!  he sold me a whole bottle for $15, and it cured scooter.  i had wasted $1000. on a charlatan.   dr. martin charged me $45, including the meds.  a few months ago, i received a postcard from dr. charlatan, wondering why he hadn't seen us in awhile and letting us know he was available for our medical needs.  indeed.

ivan

what a relief.  ivan the terrible had surgery yesterday and is doing well.  after a couple of early-morning conference calls, i popped him into a kennel and we drove for an hour to the agoura/westlake animal hospital.  the front desk staff knew who he was immediately ("that's the rooster, right?").  i guess it's not very common to see a chicken at an animal hospital.  dr. martin was there to meet us, and he explained his strategy for the surgery - which was to clean out the infection in ivan's leg and pull down some skin from his thigh to cover the opening that's been there for months.  i signed all the paperwork and left ivan in his capable hands.  then, i drove downtown to my office for a 4-hour friday frenzy of phone calls and emails.

around 12:30, dr. martin left a message that the surgery went very well, better than he had hoped.  the infection had extended from the front of his leg joint to above, around and behind it.  he cleaned everything out, pulled the skin down over the wound and stitched his leg so there's no longer an opening.  he said the rest would be up to ivan and the antibiotics.  results from the tissue cultures he submitted to the lab would be back next week.  then, we'll finally know what kind of bacteria has been causing the infections and be better able to treat it with the right medication.  until then, ivan needs shots of baytril twice a day, and dr. martin will visit next week to remove the bandages. 

as i made the long drive from the bowels of industrial l.a., back to the tree-covered, rolling hills of westlake, i was struck by the peculiarity of my life.   i was on the freeway in my cadillac, enroute to pick up a rooster, chatting on the phone about animatronic robots capable of squirting liquid for a soft drink commercial .  somehow it all felt perfectly normal, like just another day.  i strategized about how to squeeze in a stop at the market for some fresh corn, blueberries and spinach for ivan.  fortunately there was an albertson's across the street from the hospital, so i made a pit-stop.  this was no was ordinary market - it actually had british, german and southern food sections.  westlake is a long, long way from the carnicerias of sylmar.

i arrived at the hospital and the receptionist retrieved ivan's chart.  there was a bag tucked inside, containing a bottle of baytril and several syringes.  she looked at me somewhat squeamishly, and said "ohhh, this medication is injectible".  i think she expected me to protest or gross-out, but i smiled and told her it was no problem, i give shots all the time.  after a long parade of fluffy dogs, the vet tech finally brought ivan out to me.  he was awkwardly stuffed into his kennel, his rear pressed against the door.  the tech seemed flummoxed and not quite sure what to make of this rooster with a bald and bandaged leg.  ivan looked at me, stumbling and unable to move his leg into a comfortable position.   i opened the kennel, layed him on his side and loaded him into the car.  

we arrived home, and ivan started clucking as i carried him into the pen.  a good sign, i thought. some hens gathered around him as he emerged from the kennel.  after helping him to stand, i put some feed down and he immediately started eating (an even better sign!).  he was able to put weight on the leg, though he'd crouch every few minutes since he was clearly sore.  i brought him some water infused with vitamins and he drank.  big sigh of relief that he made it through and is still his adorable, terrible self.

welcome home ivan, it's good to have you back.

smoke & bananas

4th of july was a perfect opportunity to smoke.  nothing better than back ribs that have been sitting in a smoker for 5 hours.  we had a family bbq with ribs, grass-fed ny strip, free-range chicken and grilled corn.  since we've lived here, we've only used wood for cooking outdoors (i never knew what i was missing by using charcoal!).  fortunately, we have plenty of olive, pomegranate, fig and citrus wood from numerous prunings for fuel.  we have a cheap little barrel smoker from home depot that james bought when he lived in reseda.  when he'd smoke meat, the neighbors would come over to make sure the house wasn't burning down.  now, no one even notices.  the smoker sits on the foundation of a brick oven that was destroyed during the '71 sylmar quake.  that oven was built by the original owners - the owner's daughter showed us the plans for it (someone actually drew an elevation).  we haven't gotten around to re-building it - looks like it was awesome before it collapsed.  there was also apparently a wine cellar in the middle of the yard that was destroyed and buried after the quake.  the owner's son-in-law told us that there might still be some old, homemade bottles of wine underground.

we had our first mission figs last week.  the trees give us 12-20 "early" figs that ripen a few weeks ahead of the rest of the fruit (like a little preview of what's to come).   they didn't last long.  there are lots of tiny pomegranates on the trees.  we still have a few oranges higher up on the trees than i can reach, and the lemon tree is full of fruit even after quarts and quarts of homemade lemonade.  in an effort to use more lemons, i made a few jars of lemon curd last week (it freezes well, hurray!).  yesterday, i made a cake with lemon curd filling for dessert. turned out well, i think.  gave the leftovers to james' mom so i wouldn't be tempted to eat half a cake by myself.

we lost all of our lettuce plants and some herbs in the heat of last week.  fortunately, mostly everything else seems to be thriving.  a friend generously offered us some sweet potato slips, which went into the ground last weekend.  i've never planted potatoes before, but they are doing well.  we're having a bit of a water crisis, trying to figure out how to drop our consumption without damaging all the trees and plants.  we've cut our watering down, but we may need to take more drastic measures once the next bill arrives.  fortunately, since we have no sewer and use water for irrigation, our rates are lower than most.

the "save the bananas" project is on-going.  after we moved in, james transplanted some banana plants from reseda, and we moved a stand of plants from the back of the property to the front. we had a huge, lush stand of green plants and little burro bananas until the winds and sheep took their toll last winter.  once the wind and cold had weakened the plants, the rams discovered they could topple them with a few good head-butts.  they polished off all but one lone stalk, and nibbled the rest down to little nubs.  james had the brilliant idea to surround the perimeter with straw bales to keep the sheep at bay.  bananas are very prolific so we've been hoping the roots would re-generate shoots.  leaves are finally emerging, but now the chickens have taken a liking to the tender sprouts and peck at them mercilessly.  the next step in "project banana" is surrounding each plant with bird netting.  it's always something.